Bolt action firearm with automatic safety mechanism engageable by bolt handle



RM WITH A TOMATIC SAFETY ENGAGEABLE BY LT HANDLE Filed Oct. 2. 1961April 1964 oi M. KNODE JR 3,130,513 FIREA BOLT ACTION MECHANISMINVENTOR.

Uhver H1. KflDd E'Jt +72! W w-2217.5

United States PatentOflFice 3,130,513 Patented Apr. 28, 1964 3,130,513BOLT ACTION FIREARM WITH AUTOMATIC SAFETY MECHANISM ENGAGEABLE BY BOLTHANDLE Oliver M. Knode, Jr., Hampden, Mass., assignor to SavageCorporation, Westfield, Mass., a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 2,1961, Ser. No. 142,162 7 Claims. (Cl. 42-70) This invention relates tobolt action firearms and more particularly to firing safety mechanismsfor small arms.

As is well known, the function of a safety mechanism for firearms is toprevent inadvertent firing of the weapon. Any safety which must beintentionally actuated or placed on by the shooter leaves a great dealto be desired because it requires an additional human action other thanthat required to load and fire the weapon.

' This invention relates to a type of safety known as an The principalobject of this invention is to provide an ,improved automatic safetyforbolt action firearms.

Another object of this invention is to provide a safety of the abovetype of simple and inexpensive construction.

The above and other objects and advantages of this invention will bemore readily apparent from the following description and with referenceto the accompanying drawings in which: V g V 1 FIG. 1,is a partialsideelevational view of a firearm embodying this invention; 1

'--. FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIGfl with parts in section and inwhich the safety mechanism is on;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 in which the safety is in 01fposition;

FIG. 4 is a section taken along line 44 of FIG. 2 showing therelationship of the safety and receiver; and

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the safety.

Referring in detail to the drawing, a firearm embodying this inventionis shown generally at It). The firearm is a bolt-action type having abolt 12 slidably and rotatably disposed within the receiver 14 of theweapon. The operation of the bolt is controlled by an operating handle16 which extends radially outwardly of the bolt. The bolt handle 16 isrotatable in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the bolt and isrotated upwardly for unlocking and downwardly for locking the bolt inthe receiver.

The bolt 12 may be of any conventional type and as shown comprises astriker 18 operated by a coil spring, not shown. The striker includes alug 20 (FIGS. 2 and 3) which fits into a slot 22 in the receiver. Thestriker is held in cocked position by engagement of the lug 20 with asear which forms part of the firing mechanism, shown generally at 26.

Depending from the undesired of the receiver, rearwardly of a boltoperating lever slot 24, is the firing mechanism of the weapon. Thefiring mechanism comprises a housing member 28 and includes spacedopposed walls 27 and 29 (FIG. 4) for pivotably supporting a trigger 30,sear 32, and safety mechanism 34.

The trigger is pivoted on a pin 36 which is supported by the opposedwall portions of the housing member 28.

The trigger includes a scar actuating finger 37 disposed ,ceiver.surface of the safety into frictional engagement with the outer surfaceof the receiver. vent unintentional movement of the safety. If necessaryrearwardly of the pivot pin 36 and a notch 38 interengageable with thesafety mechanism.

The sear 32 is pivotably supported by a pin 40. As shown, the sear isapproximately L-shaped, including a downwardly extending leg 42engageable by the finger 37 of the trigger. A coil spring 44, extendingbetween the undersurface of the sear and the upper surface of thetriggers urges both the sear and the trigger toward their prefiringpositions. 5

In accordance with this invention, the safety mechanism 34 is in theform of a lever preferably of integral spring steel construction. Thelever is pivotably mounted on a pin 46 for swinging movement in a planenormal to the plane of movement of the bolt handle 16. The levercomprises a U-shaped portion 51 defined by spaced walls provided withholes which receive the pin 46. This arrangement insures accuraterotation of the safety lever in a given plane. The lowerend of thesafety comprises latch means interengageable with the trigger. When thesafety is engaged with the trigger, the trigger cannot be moved, andconsequently inadvertent or unintentional firing of the weapon is notpossible.

As shown, the latch means comprises a finger 48 which fits into thecorrespondingly shaped notch 38 in the trigger. With the safety andtrigger in this relative position (FIG. 2), the safety is on and theweapon cannot be fired since movement of the firing mechanism isprevented.

The portion of the safety, above the pivot pin 46, is in the form of anarm curved partially around the outer surface of the receiver 14 (FIG.4). The inner surface of the safety is contiguous to the outer surfaceof-the re A projectionor detent 50 extends from the inner The detentserves to pre sitive assurance against inadvertent movement of thesafety. I

The upper portion of the safety also includes a forwardly projectinghook or finger. 52. swingable for obstructing the opening of the bolthandle receiving slot 24. The finger 52 serves to actuate the safety inresponse to bolt operation and to prevent closure of the bolt handle ifthe safety should be moved off while the bolt is open, as shown in thebroken line position of FIG. 3.

Lower edge 53 of the finger 52 extends forwardly at an oblique anglerelative to the center line of the arm so that rearward pivotal movementof the safety occurs in response to upward movement of the bolt handle16, as when the bolt is unlocked after firing. Thus, whenever the boltis so moved, it serves to cam the safety rearwardly to its on position,since rearward movement of the safety causes the finger 48 to engage thenotch 38 of the trigger. bus, when the bolt handle is operated to openthe chamber of the firearm, the safety is automatically moved to its onposition. Thereafter, the weapon may be loaded and the bolt closed innormal fashion. The safety remains on throughout these operationsbecause of engagement of projection 50 with the receiver 14.

To fire the weapon, the safety must be off. This is accompanlished bymoving its upper end forwardly so that the latch finger 48 is swungclear of the trigger and the finger 52 is swung into the path ofmovement of the bolt handle, so that whenever the bolt is subsequentlyopened the safety will be moved to its trigger locking position. Anoperating flange 54 is provided for convenience in manipulating thesafety. The upper surface of the flange may be serrated and providedwith an indicator arrow to show the direction of movement required toput the safety on.

Applicants invention provides a highly effective safety .3 mechanismwhich is operative to prevent unintentional discharge of a firearm. Thesafety is actuated automatically in response to operation of the bolthandle. Moreover, before the weapon can be fired, the safety must bemoved to its 01f posit-ion in which it is disposed to be cammed .on byopening of the bolt. These desirable results have been achieved by meansof a safety mechanism of simple and inexpensive construction which doesnot add substantially to the manufacturing costs of weapons equippedtherewith.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a bolt action firearm in which the bolt is lockedand unlocked by angular movement of a bolt operating handle, a safetymechanism comprising an integral lever pivotably mounted for swingingmovement to and from interlocking engagement with the firing mechanismof said firearm in response to angular move ment of said bolt handle,said lever including a portion engageable by said bolt handle wherebysaid safety is actuated in response to angular movement of said bolthandle.

2. In combination with a bolt action firearm in which the bolt is lockedand unlocked by angular movement of a bolt operating handle, a safetymechanism comprising an integral lever pivotably mounted for swingingmovement normal to the plane of angular movement of said handle to andfrom interlocking engagement with the firing mechanism of said firearm,said lever including a portion engageable by said handle for movement ofsaid safety into locking engagement with said firing mechanism inresponse to unlocking angular movement of said bolt handle.

3. In combination with a bolt action firearm, in which the bolt islocked and unlocked by angular movement of a bolt handle, a safetymechanism of integral construction mounted for pivotable movement normalto the angular movement of said handle to and from interlockingengagement with the firing mechanism of said firearm, said safetymechanism including a portion pivotable to an obstructing position inthe path of movement of the bolt handle whereby said bolt cannot belocked if said safety is off, said safety being placed on by pivotalmovement of said safety in response to unlocking movement of said bolthandle.

4. In combination with a bolt action firearm in which the bolt is lockedand unlocked by angular movement of a bolt operating handle, a safetymechanism for said firearm comprising a lever of: integral constructionpivotably mounted for swinging movement alongside the receiver of saidfirearm, said lever including at its lower end latch meansinterengageable with the firing mechanism of the firearm to preventmovement thereof when the safety is on, the upper portion of said leverbeing curved for swinging movement adjacent the outer surface of thereceiver, said upper portion including a finger engageable by said bolthandle for actuating said safety in response to angular movement of saidbolt handle.

5. In combination with a bolt action firearm in which the bolt is lockedand unlocked by angular movement of a bolt operating handle, a safety asset forth in claim 4 in which means is provided for releasably retainingsaid safety lever in a predetermined position. I

6. In combination with a bolt action firearm, a safety as set forth inclaim 5 in which said latch means is engageable with the trigger of saidfiring mechanism, said latch means and trigger being provided withcooperating opposed projections and slots.

7. In combination with a bolt action firearm in which the bolt isunlocked by angular movement of a bolt operating handle, a safety whichis in the form of an integral lever pivotable intermediate its endsnormal to the angular movement of said operating lever, said leverhaving a latch formed adjacent its lower end and swingable to and frominterlocking engagement with the mechanism of said firearm, the upperend of said lever including a cam surface disposed in the path ofangularmovement of said bolt handle when the latch is out of engagementwith said firing mechanism to permit firing, said lever being pivotedinto locking engagement with said firing mechanism in response tounlocking movement of said bolt handle, and means for releasably holdingsaid lever in a position in which the cam surface is dipsosed in thepath of angular movement of the bolt handle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,374,378

1. IN COMBINATION WITH A BOLT ACTION FIREARM IN WHICH THE BOLT IS LOCKEDAND UNLOCKED BY ANGULAR MOVEMENT OF AN INTEGRAL LEVER PIVOTABLY MOUNTEDFOR SWINGING MOVEMENT TO AND FROM INTERLOCKING ENGAGEMENT WITH THEFIRING MECHANISM OF SAID FIREARM IN RESPONSE TO ANGULAR MOVEMENT OF SAIDBOLT HANDLE, SAID LEVER INCLUDING A PORTION ENGAGEABLE BY SAID BOLTHANDLE WHEREBY SAID SAFETY IS ACTUATED IN RESPONSE TO ANGULAR MOVEMENTOF SAID BOLT HANDLE.